Godfrey Diekmann Center

Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary continues its celebration of Vatican Council II and its affirmation of ecumenism with an exploration of Dei Verbum -- the Church's Constitution on Divine Revelation. Come explore the way in which Vatican II's approach to scripture has made the work of ecumenism and the shared exploration of scripture an area for agreement and common ground between Catholics and other Christians.

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Next Event:

Monday, October 19th, 2015

Gaudium et Spes, Joy and Hope

featuring Timothy Matovina from Notre Dame

Event Overview

A five-part series on the major documents and themes of Vatican Council II

No Church event has done more to shape the past fifty years of Christian life than Vatican Council II. From 1962 and 1965, the council gathered bishops and ecclesial leaders from around the world, and it decrees gave shape to a wide span of theological questions including the nature of the church, the sacred liturgy, divine revelation, the mission of the church in the modern world, and relations between Catholicism and other Christian churches as well as other world religions.

The "2013 Survey of U.S. Priests on the New Roman Missal" was conducted under the auspices of the Godfrey Diekmann, OSB Center for Patristics and Liturgical Studies at Saint John's University School of Theology•Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota. The objective of the survey was to determine as accurately as possible the views of U.S. Catholic priests about the new translation of the English Missal which was introduced on the First Sunday of Advent.

This survey shows fairly widespread skepticism about the new Missal by U.S. Catholic priests, with strong differences in opinion between the majority of priests who do not like the Missal and the minority who do. Read the full report here.

All Together Now?Catholic Unity and the Liturgy

by Rita Ferrone

In what does the unity of the Roman Rite consist? Fifty years after the promulgation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, some assert that this unity is textual, and therefore they regard exact correspondence of vernacular texts with a Latin original as essential to believed, textual unity was not what the fathers of the council chiefly had in mind when they made the landmark decision to opt for the expression "substantial unity." We will examine the shift that has taken place between the Second Vatican Council and today in interpreting the Constitution on this point, and argue that the lasting unity of the Roman Rite is best founded on the concept of paschal mystery, the hidden theological treasure of the liturgical reform. Watch the full lecture here.

The Godfrey Diekmann, OSB Center for Patristics and Liturgical Studies was created to honor the life and work of Godfrey Diekmann, OSB (1908-2002), one of the 46 theologians chosen from around the world to prepare the schema on liturgy during Vatican II (1962-1965). The Diekmann Center seeks to deepen contemporary understanding of the, early Christian theologians of the first through seventh centuries, and to promote the liturgical renewal called for by the Second Vatican Council. Read more.